Besides the full ownership of
real property, wlasnosc hipoteczna in Polish,
fairly common in Poland are also the perpetual lease or
dzierzawa wieczysta (usually of municipal lands) and a
limited ownership of flats within housing cooperatives.
While all of them are transferable it’s advisable to seek
full ownership when shopping either for land or a house or
an apartment. Joint property, too, has its obvious
shortcomings as it entails joint and several responsibility
and demands consensus in decision-making.

Land register, ksiegi wieczyste in Polish, is an
indispensable tool to any would-be Krakow landlord,
providing such crucial information about real estates as
names of their actual owners, mortgages, restrictions, etc.
Land registry constitutes a department of the district
court. It's available also online at http://ekw.ms.gov.pl To
access the database one needs to know the land registry
number given to the property in question. The service is
provided in in Polish only.

How to buy property legally in Krakow.

It’s most important to remember that in the case of
purchasing real estates in Poland the deal need to be
completed at a local notary public because otherwise any
such transaction is null and void. Also, the notary collects
the deed tax (stamp duty) when applicable and the court fee
for an entry in the land register in addition to his/her
remuneration. Plus he/she is responsible for placing the
correct entry in the land register.

Citizens of the European Union, Island, Norway and
Liechtenstein may freely purchase and own any real estate in
Poland other than farmland and forests, though in the case
of

residential property
they should pledge to make it their fixed abode. Other aliens
can buy apartments or plots up to 0.4 hectare (i.e. about an
acre) in urban areas with the same intent to take up
residence. Otherwise the purchase of real estate by a
foreigner requires a permit from the Interior Ministry (Ministerstwo
Spraw Wewnetrznych), usually easily achievable. The above
applies both to individuals and to companies whenever
foreigners have the controlling interest.

The historic
Podgorze district on the right bank of Wisla river
has
become newly fashionable address in Krakow.

Significance of real estate agents.

In Poland people often bypass
real estate agents and sell property directly through
classified ads, usually those published in local newspapers,
though the Internet is an increasingly popular alternative.
At the same time expert services of a diligent realtor seem
most useful to somebody foreign to the country, its legal
niceties, and the ways of the natives.

It’s advisable to employ only the

licensed estate agents,
since they alone under the Polish law may act legally as
middlemen in the business of selling and buying real
property. To obtain the license they need to pass state
examination and they may lose it through malpractice.

When you buy brand-new property from a developer.

Value Added

Tax
(VAT) on newly built
property is currently eight percent for
flats of 150 square meters or less and houses of 300 sq m or
smaller. Excess surface area beyond the above limits is
taxed at 23 percent.

Additional costs are the fee of
the notary public called “taksa notarialna” complete with
the 23-percent VAT on it and the land-registry fee.

New residential property in Krakow often sells in the early
stages of development with the legal transfer of the
ownership postponed till the completion.

When you buy a second-hand real estate through an estate
agent.

Realtors charge the buyers commissions from two percent
(seldom) to three percent (usually) of the sale price and
their fee incurs the 23-percent VAT tax. Also the
two-percent stamp duty called “podatek od czynnosci
cywilnoprawnych” as well as the fee of the notary public (taksa
notarialna) with the 23-percent VAT on it and the court fee
for an entry in the land register – all traditionally fall
on the buyer.

For instance, on the purchase of real property worth million
zloties (see more about the
Polish currency)
one should expect to pay a stamp duty of 20,000 zlotys,
notary’s fee to the tune of 5,800 zlotys plus 1,334 zlotys
VAT tax, another 200 zlotys for the entry in the land
register, and the commission of the estate agent amounting
to 30,000 zlotys plus 6,900 zlotys VAT.